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You told us: You demand longer software upgrade periods for Android phones
August 19, 2025
Thesmartphoneexperience is equal parts hardware and software. While the former can’t really be upgraded after purchase, manufacturers can (and should) issue regular updates to the latter to patch security holes and improve functionality. There’s no mandatory minimum software upgrade period that Android manufacturers need to adhere to, but what if there was?
We asked you in arecent pollwhat you believe should be the minimum software upgrade period that manufacturers should stick to for all Android phones. The results are in!
What should be the minimum software upgrade period for any Android phone?
Our poll was originally published on August 10 and racked up over 7,700 votes. Clearly, this is a topic near and dear to our readers’ hearts.
Of the four options available, it’s not really surprising that “more than three years” received the most love. Just over 45% of readers believe that manufacturers should adopt this long-term approach to updates. “At least three years” trails slightly, racking up 41.1% of the vote. This tally suggests that 86.4% ofAndroid Authorityreaders voting on this poll want to see at least three years of support across all Android devices.
See also:Dear OEMs — Your Android update policy should have nothing to do with PR
Few respondents are open to shorter update support periods. At least one in every ten readers would settle for a two-year software upgrade commitment, while 3.4% are content with a year’s worth of updates from manufacturers.
As for the comments, several readers highlighted other platforms’ update policies, namely Windows and Linux. Some called for at least ten years of updates to keep devices relevant and reduce waste. Read some more reader thoughts below.
Your comments
That’s it for this poll. Thanks for voting and commenting. If you have any thoughts about the poll results or an anecdote about Android software updates, drop them down below.
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